


Settling In

by ScarlettMage



Series: Tails of Bakura [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Cat Thief King Bakura, Domestic, Gen, Reincarnation, Thief King Bakura | Yami Bakura Has His Own Body
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:34:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26911504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarlettMage/pseuds/ScarlettMage
Summary: Adjusting to the new presence in his life was harder than expected. Ryou does his best to adjust and gain the trust of his new animal companion.
Relationships: Bakura Ryou & Thief King Bakura
Series: Tails of Bakura [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1959454
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18





	Settling In

Having been looking forward to getting a pet so much, Ryou hadn’t expected it to be so hard to adjust to the new addition to his life.

  
Spirit wasn’t very friendly, seeming to have a permanent glare on his features and a tendency to hiss and growl at the simplest of things. He tried to pet him on several occasions only to receive a few new scratches on his hands instead of a pleased purr. Yugi wasn’t able to get anywhere remotely near the cat without him trying to attack. It was fine though, they’d just have to take it slow and try to build trust with him.

  
Ryou would do his best to try and bond with the grumpy feline, kneeling so that his size wouldn’t scare him, and keeping a safe distance as he gently nudged bowls of food or water towards him.

  
Then there'd be moments where he was busy, simply minding his own business as he tended to his own tasks such as homework or planning for a Monster World game. He'd often get so caught up in his work that it became easy to forget he wasn't still alone within this house, so on many occasions he'd nearly fall out of his seat at Spirit making a loud noise or suddenly jumping up onto his work desk.

  
He wouldn't even have to be distracted doing anything sometimes, he'd simply walk out of his bedroom with a yawn only to jump and startle awake as the cat walked by.

  
Sometimes Spirit would knock something over, creating a loud crash that would make him cringe. It was hard to tell whether the act was intentional or not, the cat seeming to be pretty smug as he watched him clean up broken pieces or put things back in their place.

  
In turn, he seemed to have surprised Spirit every now and then, the cat usually easily able to notice- he rarely put his guard down, something he supposed was fitting for an alley cat. -he'd sometimes be surprised when busy cleaning himself or distracted. Whenever he caught the cat simply staring at something he had to question whether his house was haunted by some creatures which were spirits in more than name or whether the cat was simply thinking. Perhaps the cat was plotting for his next bout of mischief.

  
The cat was a troublemaker. It reminded him of a Bakeneko, really. How funny would that be, for him to have ended up looking after a cat yokai without having realized it.

Often he would wake up to find things had been moved or lost- briefly he would be hit by a wave of panic at the possibility that a certain evil spirit had come back, and he'd check under his shirt only to let out a great sigh of relief as he found no ancient Egyptian artefact to be seen. He'd located some jewelry to be hidden in or under the cat bed, which said cat seemed determined on keeping. Most things were easily returned to their place.

  
Still, he'd dealt with worse before... he'd learn to find a way to deal with all this too.

  
In his down time he decided to try and bond with Spirit some more, grabbing a cat toy and crouching a few feet away, arm stretched forward towards the cat and waving the toy about. For a while he stared at the toy and Ryou felt his heart rise with the hope that he was going to take the bait, only for that violet gaze to turn to him. After a few seconds of uncomfortable staring, the cat left.

  
Sitting at his desk he wrote a letter about the situation to inform his sister. _I'm sure you'd have loved him. You always liked animals, didn't you? I wonder if you'd be able to get closer to him sooner than I. Maybe we could've made a competition over it._ A sigh escaped him as he shook his head, twirling his pen for a few moments. He took some time trying to think of what more he could say before deciding to switch the subject, holding the pen properly once more and writing on.

  
As the days went by he slowly got used to the apartment's new resident, surprise lessening and not being so easily startled by the cat's mere existence within his home.

  
He had to be careful when eating food, he found, with Spirit often attempting to snatch his meals from right under his nose, with most of which likely being far from an ideal thing to feed cats. Sometimes he'd lock himself in his room so that the little feline had no chance of getting himself poisoned.

  
"Jeez Bakura, maybe ya shouldn't have picked 'im! I'm sure there's plenty of other, _better_ cats ya could have chosen- or, better yet, ya could have picked a dog! A dog would _never_ be this much trouble!" Jounouchi had told him as he gave a few sympathetic pats on the shoulder.

  
"Oh no," he chuckled awkwardly, "it's rather frustrating but I'm sure in time and training I'll be able to help improve his manners."

  
And it seemed like he was.

  
As more time went on Spirit began to settle in with the home, beginning to approach him more often, even if only to watch what he was doing. There was less new injuries from the cat's claws and teeth, too. that being something he greatly appreciated, not desiring his arms to be covered in any more scars- especially not on top of old ones such as the large reminder of the time he was able to defy the spirit of the ring or even the occasional smaller ones from when he was new to making miniatures and accidentally ended up cutting himself with one of the tools- it wasn't that he hated them, he just preferred to go without. He still refused to wear a collar and would shrink back from touch, but they were getting there, bit by bit.

  
He doubled down on his efforts to befriend the feisty feline, dedicating more time to trying to earn the cat's trust. One time, when Spirit sat at the front door, meowing and scratching at the door, he decided to let him out.  
  
With the collar and a leash- an item from the time he'd tried to have a dog with the ring, he hadn't ever managed to get rid of it, deciding to keep it in case it came in useful in the future- in hand, he crouched by the cat, who hissed immediately upon noticing the items he held.

  
"Hey, it won't hurt. I can't let you out without putting them on you first, though. I can't let you just run away and get mistaken for a stray!"

  
He didn't know why, but it felt as though he was understood, as though the cat was smart enough to comprehend the words he spoke. Perhaps he was simply being silly, though. Nonetheless, he continued to talk anyways.

  
After the little fight it took to get the collar on, he held the leash in hand and opened the door- only to immediately fall forward, leash escaping his hold as the cat dashed away with surprising strength and speed.

  
"Hold it! Spirit come back!" Without care for how unguarded his apartment was at the moment, he ran after his cat. Down the stairs he went as he chased after the ball of fur, only for it to have seemingly disappeared completely. Where did he go? On one of the floors? No, no, he likely went all the way down. Nodding to himself, he continued downwards as quickly as he could.

  
When he reached the ground floor he still found no sign of Spirit. Walking around, he kept his eyes peeled and asked those he saw whether they had seen his cat, all of which giving an apologetic 'no'.

  
Where was he? Where did he go? Was he on a different floor?

  
  
After asking the receptionist to keep an eye out he retreated up the steps to conduct similar searches on the next few floors, hoping that the feline wouldn't change location while he was busy.

  
  
Floor one was a no.

  
  
Floor two held no answers and no people who had been outside able to have a chance of seeing his cat.

  
None of the floors gave him results unfortunately.

  
The receptionist hadn't spotted his cat while he was busy on his search either so hopefully he was still in the building. He retreated to his apartment with a defeated sigh, however, hoping that nobody had taken advantage of his open door.

  
When he entered his home he was surprised to be greeted with the sight of Spirit curled up comfortably in his cat bed. "Huh?!" He blinked, taken aback.

  
Immediately he rushed over and knelt beside the cat, who only seemed to give what sounded like a laugh. Sighing, Ryou slowly moved his hands forward, Spirit growling and shrinking back at first, only to relax a little as the hands only went and removed the collar.

  
"Don't do that again! I won't let you out if you just run off like that, you know!" Spirit only seemed to grow more smug and amused, closing his eyes and seeming to listen no longer.

  
Standing, Ryou went and put the collar and leash away, briefly going down to inform the receptionist that his cat had returned home.

  
After the escapade Spirit seemed more relaxed and the two continued to grow at ease around each other. Ryou had even made a miniature figure of the cat, showing it to the cat with a smile. "At least _this_ version of you won't run away or attack me!" He had joked, only to find the figure had moved to the opposite end of the apartment while he slept.

  
One day while watching a movie Spirit had situated himself on the far end of the couch. Glancing away from the violence on screen, Ryou watched the cat, contemplating whether what he was about to do would be a good idea before he smiled and nodded to himself, determined. Careful as ever, he moved a hand towards the cat, slowly placing it down on him even as he began growling.

  
Still, the cat didn't attack even as he gently moved his hand on top of his fur, only growling louder and louder, until Ryou decided to bring his hand back, barely missing the cat's teeth and claws which lodged themselves into the couch for a moment.

  
Yet Spirit didn't move far, remaining in the nearby area rather than hiding somewhere else in the house.

  
Yeah, he wouldn't be there yet for a while now- for days or weeks or perhaps even months!- but they'd settled in and eventually they'd be able to place some trust in each other. He was sure of it.


End file.
